When it comes to managing type 2 diabetes in overweight people, stomach-shrinking surgeries are still more effective than trying to shed pounds with pills and lifestyle changes, researchers said Monday.

Three years into a U.S. study that compares various approaches -- gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy and simply trying medical counseling, diet, exercise and weight loss medications -- the findings show that the two surgical procedures are still superior at reducing blood sugar and weight.

Spring in Japan brings explosions of pink and white cherry blossoms that provide a beautiful backdrop for picnics across this nature-loving country.

But it also heralds a mass outbreak of facemasks and specialty goggles intended to fend off clouds of pollen that make noses stream and eyes itch.

A Japanese research institute said Tuesday it will punish a young female scientist after a probe found a ground-breaking study on the production of stem cells was fabricated.

Riken institute head, Ryoji Noyori, who jointly won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2001, said in a statement he will "rigorously punish relevant people after procedures in a disciplinary committee."

Medical engineers said Sunday they had created a device the size of a plaster which can monitor patients by tracking their muscle activity before administering their medication.

Methods for monitoring so-called "movement disorders" such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease have traditionally included video recordings or wearable devices, but these tend to be bulky and inflexible.

An experimental treatment has shown promise in lowering bad cholesterol, offering hope for people at risk of heart disease but who cannot tolerate drugs known as statins, researchers said Sunday.

The therapy developed by Amgen pharmaceuticals is known as evolocumab. It is a monoclonal antibody that is injected every couple of weeks or once a month, instead of being taken in a daily pill.

Guinea's President Alpha Conde warned Sunday of a "health emergency" as authorities raced to contain a spiraling Ebola epidemic which has killed 78 people and prompted neighboring Senegal to close its border.

Guinea's health ministry said that 122 "suspicious cases" of viral haemorrhagic fever, including 78 deaths, had been registered.

Beverly Brignoni was a young New Yorker seeking a less expensive way to enhance her appearance and she did what many other people are now doing: travel to the Dominican Republic for cosmetic surgery.

It went horribly wrong. The 28-year-old died Feb. 20 from what the doctor told her family was a massive pulmonary embolism while getting a tummy tuck and liposuction at a clinic in the Dominican capital recommended by friends. Family members have serious questions about her death and want local authorities to investigate.

Turning the clocks forward an hour in the spring for daylight saving time is followed by a spike in heart attacks on the Monday afterward, said a U.S. study Saturday.

But when the clocks fall back and people gain an hour of sleep, there is a drop in heart attacks on Tuesday, said the research presented at the American College of Cardiology conference.

Pakistani health teams will Sunday launch a drive to vaccinate some 750,000 children in the troubled northwest, with thousands of police guarding against attacks by militants who claim the polio campaign is a front for spying.

The campaign in Peshawar district, which covers Peshawar city and dozens of towns and villages, is the ninth phase of a push to eradicate polio in Pakistan, which along with Nigeria and Afghanistan are the only countries where the disease remains endemic.

A male nurse has been charged with the murder of three patients who were poisoned with contaminated medical products at a British hospital, police said Saturday.

Eight patients died following the poisoning at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport, near Manchester in northwest England, in June and July 2011.